{"id":2439,"date":"2026-10-21T01:25:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T01:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lawayala.com\/resources\/international-trade-litigation-florida\/customs-duty-dispute-litigation-florida\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T01:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T01:22:13","slug":"customs-duty-dispute-litigation-florida","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lawayala.com\/resources\/international-trade-litigation-florida\/customs-duty-dispute-litigation-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Customs Duty Dispute Litigation in Florida | Ayala Law PA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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International Trade Litigation | Tampa Bay Businesses<\/p>

Ayala Law PA focuses on international trade litigation for businesses in Tampa, Hillsborough County and the wider Tampa Bay area, including disputes over customs duties, classification and related contract claims.<\/p>

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By Eduardo A. Maura \u00b7 Published October 20, 2026<\/p>\n\n

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Customs duty dispute litigation in Florida often starts with a notice, not a lawsuit. A duty bill, a classification change, or a broker’s demand may not match what your business expected to pay. This page explains how these disputes work, where they are decided, and what to gather before you talk with our team. Ayala Law PA focuses on business litigation, including international trade litigation<\/a>, for businesses in Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the Tampa Bay area. Eduardo A. Maura is the lawyer responsible for this page.<\/p>\n

What a Customs Duty or Import Classification Dispute Is<\/h2>\n

A customs duty dispute is a disagreement over how much duty an import owes and who must pay it. Most of these disputes turn on one code.<\/p>\n

Every imported product gets a code in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS). That code sets the duty rate, so a different code can mean a different bill. A classification dispute begins when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) disagrees with the code, the declared value, or the country of origin.<\/p>\n

CBP settles each entry through liquidation, its final calculation of duties on that shipment. It can also reliquidate an entry, which means recalculating the duties after the first calculation.<\/p>\n

Who faces these disputes? Importers of record, distributors, and manufacturers do. So do businesses that pay duties passed through by a supplier or a customs broker.<\/p>\n

One shipment can create two fights. The first is with the government over the duty. The second is a private contract dispute with a supplier, broker, or buyer over who pays and who reimburses whom.<\/p>\n\n

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If a CBP duty bill or a broker's demand has reached your business, our team can review your entries with you. Reach out to start that conversation. Talk it through with our team — we can walk you through how a situation like yours is usually handled and what your options are.<\/p>

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What Our Customs Duty Litigation Covers<\/h2>\n

Our customs duty litigation covers disputes tied to specific entries and the contracts around them. We review the entry paperwork first, because the record shapes which claim fits.<\/p>\n